BB King would have turned 100 today, and to mark the occasion, Joe Bonamassa has announced an all-star album celebrating the life and legacy of the King of the Blues.
Produced by Bonamassa with Josh Smith, BB King’s Blues Summit 100 will be released via KTBA Records on February 6, 2026, but Bonamassa will be sharing new tracks each month in advance of its release.
All in there will be 32 of King’s most-famous tracks, featuring guest appearances from the likes of Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Slash, Shemekia Copeland, Marcus King… Kirk Fletcher, Larkin Poe, the list goes on. Bonamassa really worked the contacts book for this one.
The greatest living bluesman, Buddy Guy, is also on the recording. There are so many stars. but as Bonamassa says BB King was the centre of the blues guitar universe. When he learned that there had been no centenary tribute planned to celebrate King’s legacy, he got the ball rolling.
“Very few people in music define the genre in which they flourish, and BB King is one of them,” says Bonamassa. “When BB was alive and active, he was the blues – he was the sun which all planets rotated around. Only a few artists are the true north guiding the genre in which they participated, but he was that shining star.”
Bonamassa told MusicRadar as much in 2021 when he listed the 10 guitarists who blew his mind.
“Talk about a guy that was able to identify himself with just one single note,” he said. “Those early live recordings from the early ‘60s: Live At The Regal, Blues Is King... when he had that reverb-drenched stereo Gibson sound? That was the archetype for electric blues for me. Coupled with the quality of the material and his singing, it was simply a tour de force. And just so amazingly powerful.”
The project has the blessing of the King estate, with its chairman, Vassal Gradington Benford III, noting that the late bluesman’s legacy was not just in the music itself, but in the message behind it, his “spirit of love” and gift for bringing people together.
“This collection carries his legacy forward – so that new audiences may continue to feel the heart, soul, and humanity of the King of the Blues,” he says.
Bonamassa can surely relate. He is living proof of BB King’s generational legacy. When he was a young buck, well, just 12 years old, he opened for King, who saw something in the young Bonamassa and took him under his wing.
“He mentored me,” says Bonamassa. “But I wasn't the only one. All the people in his orbit have the same story about how kind B.B. was, and how he embraced the younger generation.”
That next generation of blues players is present and correct on BB King’s Blues Summit 100. Here are some more names for you; Eric Gales, Gary Clark Jr, Warren Haynes, Chris Buck.
“BB’s only wish was, ‘Do what you can to keep the blues alive,’” says Bonamassa. “Well, hopefully this album gives a B12 shot to his legacy – and to the legacy of the blues.”
King would surely have approved.
The first five tracks from BB King’s Blues Summit 100 are available to stream now. The album is available to preorder on all formats via Joe Bonamassa.
